Jack Conklin entered the Michigan State Football Program as a walk-on.

I get a kick out of the folks who like to point to the lack of Five-Star and Four-Star recruits at Michigan State.

Was Le’Veon Bell a Two-Star or a Three-Star?

Kirk Cousins was, I think, a Half-Star.

Darqueze Dennard might have been a One-Star.

Tony Lippett was assigned a third of a star, I think. He was named the 2014 Big Ten Receiver of the Year and he nows plays Cornerback for the Miami Dolphins.

Current Spartan defensive star and eventual NFLer Kenny Willekes was a Zero-Star walk-on and he’s going to continue to destroy guys who were given lots of stars by dudes who sit in their basements and assign stars to high school football players.

Jack Conklin chose to forego his senior season in order to be chosen in the First Round (8th overall pick) of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans after establishing himself as one of the best offensive lineman in the nation, let alone in the history of a program that has earned the reputation for sending offensive linemen monsters to the NFL on a regular basis.

Once Conklin made it to the NFL, he earned a couple of bona fides for his profile:

Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA) All Rookie Team, 2016.

First Team All-Pro, 2016.

Before becoming a star in the NFL, Conklin earned First Team All America honors (Sporting News, USA Today) along with First Team All Big Ten (Coaches and Media).

In three seasons as a Spartan machine, he started 38 games – 35 at Left Tackle, 3 at Right Tackle.

He recorded more than 235 career knockdowns while paving the way for Spartan running backs and protecting Spartan signal callers.

@MSU_Football is right – #74 wasn’t messing around.

And, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more exciting highlight clip for an offensive lineman – this is something other than watching a giant guy holding his hands out and keeping another giant guy from getting past him…